International Arms Dealer Charged in U.S. with
Conspiracy to Provide Surface-to-Air Missiles and
other Weapons to a Foreign Terrorist Organization

Michael J. Garcia, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of
New
York, and Michele M. Leonhart, the Acting Administrator of the United
States
Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA"), announced today the unsealing
of charges against Viktor Bout, a/k/a "Boris," a/k/a "Victor
Anatoliyevich Bout," a/k/a "Victor But," a/k/a "Viktor
Budd," a/k/a "Viktor Butt," a/k/a "Viktor Bulakin," a/k/a "Vadim
Markovich Aminov," an international arms dealer, and his associate Andrew
Smulian for conspiring to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to the
Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (the "FARC") – a designated
foreign terrorist organization based in Colombia. Bout was arrested
yesterday
by Thai authorities in Bangkok. According to the Complaint unsealed today
in Manhattan federal court:

Between November 2007 and February 2008, Bout and Smulian agreed to sell to
the FARC millions of dollars worth of weapons –- including surface-to-air
missile
systems ("SAMs") and armor piercing rocket launchers. During a series
of recorded telephone calls and emails, Bout and Smulian agreed to sell the
weapons to two confidential sources working with the DEA (the "CSs"),
who held themselves out as FARC representatives acquiring these weapons for
the FARC for use in Colombia.

In addition, during a series of consensually recorded meetings in Romania,
Smulian advised the CSs, among other things, that: (1) Bout had 100 SAMs
available
immediately; (2) Bout could also provide helicopters and armor piercing
rocket
launchers; (3) Bout could arrange to have a flight crew airdrop the weapons
into Colombian territory using combat parachutes; and (4) Bout and Smulian
would
charge the CSs $5 million to transport the weapons. During one of the
meetings
with the CSs, Smulian provided one of the CSs with a digital memory stick
that
contained an article about Bout, and documents containing photographs and
specifications
for the SAMs and armor piercing rocket launchers that Smulian had previously
said Bout could provide.

In between his meetings with the CSs, Smulian spoke to Bout over a
cellphone
provided to him by one of the CSs at the direction of the DEA. These
conversations
between Smulian and Bout were legally intercepted by foreign authorities.
During
one of these conversations, Bout and Smulian discussed the $5 million
delivery
fee for the weapons. Bout also told Smulian, in coded language, that the
weapons
requested by the CSs were ready to be delivered. Subsequent to these phone
calls
with Smulian, Bout engaged in multiple recorded phone calls with one of the
CSs during which they arranged the March 6, 2008 meeting in Bangkok.

Bout and Smulian are charged with conspiracy to provide material support or
resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization. If convicted, the
defendants each face a maximum sentence of 15 years' imprisonment.

The U.S. plans to pursue the extradition of Bout from Thailand.

The arrest of Bout yesterday was the result of close cooperation between
the
Royal Thai Police and the DEA. Also cooperating in this international
enforcement
operation were the Romanian Border Police, the Romanian Prosecutor's Office
Attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the Korps Politie
Curacao
of the Netherlands Antilles, and the Danish National Police Security
Services.

Mr. Garcia praised the investigative work of the DEA and thanked the Royal
Thai Police for their assistance. Mr. Garcia also thanked the Romanian
Border
Police, the Romanian Prosecutor's Office Attached to the High Court of
Cassation
and Justice, the Korps Politie Curacao of the Netherlands Antilles, and the
Danish National Police Security Services, for their cooperation, and thanked
the U.S. Department of Justice Office of International Affairs.

"Viktor Bout and Andrew Smulian agreed to arm terrorists with high-powered
weapons that have fueled some of the most violent conflicts in recent
memory," said
U.S. Attorney Michael J. Garcia. "Today, they face charges in the United
States for agreeing to provide weapons to a terrorist organization that has
threatened, and continues to threaten, American interests."

"DEA and our partners now have this terrorist supporter in custody where
he can no longer ply his deadly trade," said DEA Acting Administrator
Michele
M. Leonhart. "This arms trafficker was poised to arm a narco-terrorist
organization, but he now faces justice in the United States."

Assistant United States Attorneys Anjan Sahni and Brendan R. McGuire are in
charge of the prosecutions.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations and the
defendants
are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty